The holiday season approaches, which means it’s crucial to gear up your online marketing for Christmas. Google searches for “Christmas present ideas” starts to pick up as early as August and by November, shoppers around the world have already completed 21% of their holiday shopping. This shift in behavior highlights the importance of optimizing your online marketing strategies well in advance. In fact, 36% of users, surveyed by Google, are spending more time researching online before making their holiday purchases compared to previous years.
With holiday shopping already in full swing, this is the time when shoppers are most open to considering new brands and retailers. To capture their attention and encourage them to make a purchase, it’s crucial to effectively communicate your brand value and showcase your best offers across all of your digital channels.
Below, we have listed a blend of specific and advanced strategies to ensure your SEO, Social Media and PPC campaigns are ready for the shopping season.
Step 1: Update your Google Business Profile
Just like decorating your shopfront, start by giving your Google Business Profile a holiday update. Ensure that all your business information, including special holiday hours, is up-to-date. The early shopping season means consumers are already searching for your products or services, so you want to make it easy for them to find you on Google Search and Google Maps through your local SEO strategy.
Step 2: Focus Your Social Media
Social media remains a powerful tool for engaging holiday shoppers. Online video is a major source of discovery and inspiration for shoppers. Platforms like YouTube, Tiktok and Instagram provide an excellent opportunity to showcase your products and brand. To reach your key audiences and drive conversions, leverage video action campaigns with product feeds to promote your sales and best offers. These campaigns can significantly boost engagement and encourage potential customers to take action.
Step 3: Check Your Bids and Budgets
Google Ads campaigns need to be fine-tuned to adapt to the changing trends of holiday shopping. Increased competition during this season could mean that some of your keywords are suddenly more expensive than expected so you must be prepared to raise your bids. Leverage automated bidding strategies such as target ROAS or target CPA to help you scale quickly when your sales traffic starts increasing. Set up automated rules to alert you when a campaign is “limited by budget” or when a keyword is “limited by max CPC” to make sure you are not missing out on any potential shoppers.
Step 4: Leverage Performance Max Campaigns for Offline Sales
Utilize Performance Max campaigns to reach local shoppers at scale and achieve store-related goals. Performance Max campaigns provide a seamless omni-channel experience as the same products can show up on the search result page, on Google Maps, in Gmail, Display, and YouTube. Share essential store details such as operating hours, pickup options, and more to provide convenience and attract nearby customers to your physical stores. Additionally, promote your in-store inventory effectively to shoppers searching on Google through local inventory ads, ensuring that your products are visible to those actively looking for nearby shopping options.
Step 5: Increase Relevance with Remarketing and Personalization
Leverage the power of cookie-based retargeting (while you still can) to bring back potential customers who watched your social media videos or have browsed your website but haven’t made a purchase yet. Start by creating custom audiences based on user behavior, such as viewing product pages or adding items to their cart. Then craft retargeting ads on Display, YouTube, Gmail, programmatic (if you’ve got the budget for it) that remind these visitors of the products they showed interest in, possibly offering special discounts or incentives to encourage them to complete their purchase. Take your remarketing strategy a step further and harness the power of your first-party data, including insights from loyalty programs and purchase history. By layering this data across various channels, you can significantly increase the relevance of your campaigns for consumers. Personalization not only captures their attention but also drives engagement and conversions by delivering messages and offers that resonate with their individual preferences and behaviors.
Step 6: Align with your sales strategy
Integrate your online marketing efforts with a comprehensive sales strategy that includes creating enticing product bundles, product related content, irresistible promotions, and well-timed sales events. Make sure the bundled products complement each other and offer customers a cost-saving incentive compared to buying each item individually. Curate gift guides that showcase your products and offer recommendations for different types of recipients, such as “Gifts for Him,” “Gifts for Her,” or “Gifts for Kids.” Make it easy for shoppers to find the perfect present for their loved ones by following basic SEO principles for content. Notify your audience of flash sales or early bird discounts through email marketing, social media, and website banners to create a sense of excitement and urgency.
By strategically combining these elements, you can maximize the impact of your marketing campaigns during the holiday season. Ensure that your sales strategy is synchronized with your online marketing initiatives to attract, engage, and convert holiday shoppers effectively.
As you gear up for the holiday season, these strategies can serve as a foundation for your successful online marketing campaigns. Each business is unique, and personalized guidance can make all the difference. If you’re seeking tailored advice to fine-tune your holiday marketing strategy, our team of experts is here to help. Contact us today to discuss your specific goals and challenges, and let’s work together to ensure a successful holiday shopping season.
